Mattress cover



M. FISHER MATTRESS COVER April 8, 1969 Filed July 19, 1967 Sheet MANUEL FISHER er M ATTORNEYS April 8, 1969 Filed July 19. 1967 Sheet 3 INVEN TOR MA NUE' L FISHER er M A TTQRNEVS.

United States Patent 3,436,771 MATTRESS COVER Manuel Fisher, Charlotte, NC, assignor to Perfect Fit Industries Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 19, 1967, Ser. No. 654,580 Int. Cl. A47g 9/00 U.S. Cl. -334 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mattress cover is described wherein a single piece of material of a proper predetermined size can be easily formed into a proper fitting mattress cover by the use of a particular shape of fold at the opposite ends of the cover material prior to securing the remaining edges of the material in the appropriate dimensions to cover a given mattress size.

This invention relates to mattress covers and, in particular, to a novel mattress cover and a method for its construction.

In order to achieve the proper dimensions for a mattress cover while retaining a proper fitting relationship between the cover and the mattress, it is necessary to accommodate for the thickness of the mattress in a variety of ways. Various techniques have been developed for standardizing the construction of mattress covers to accommodate various mattress thicknesses. For example, simply tacking or stitching panels of various configurations, and panel designs have been attempted. It is generally desirable when constructing a mattress cover that the number of operations be kept to a minimum. Previous solutions for accommodating mattresses of various thicknesses have involved manufacturing operations which the art has been seeking to eliminate.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a smooth, close-fitting mattress cover.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel simplified method for making a smooth fitting mattress cover.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method for making a mattress cover, as hereinbefore described, which uses a minimum number of manufacturing steps to accomplish the preferred construction of a mattress cover capable of fitting any given size of mattress.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the hereinafter contained description of the mattress cover and its method of construction according to this invention.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumcntalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the mattress cover according to this invention, as it would appear covering a mattress.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the corner construction of the mattress cover prepared according to this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective cross-sectional view of the edge construction shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a stage in the construction of the mattress cover shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a stage in the construction of the mattres cover subsequent to the stage shown in FIGURE 6.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a mattress cover 10, prepared according to this invention, having a side portion 16 containing a seam 12 and an end portion 18 containing a zipper 14. In FIGURE 2, the corner construction of mattress cover 10' is more clearly illustrated. Side 16 with seam 12 extends up to the plane of end portion 18. End portion 18 contains a zipper 14 releasibly fastening the upper and lower portion of the mattress cover. FIGURE 3 shows how a portion of end 18 is received on the interior of the mattress cover 10* on the inside of the side 16. The zipper 14 is seen to extend to the end of portion 18. In FIGURE 4 the relationship of the seam 12 to the end portion 18 is more clearly illustrated. End portion 18 is fastened to the side 16 at point 19. In FIGURE 5, point 19, side 16 and end portion 18 are illustrated in the position they would assume if the space inside the cover were occupied by a generally rectangular shaped mattress.

In FIGURE 6, mattress cover material 20 is shown in its initial stages of construction where a rectangular piece of material has been folded to form a fold 22. The open adjacent ends of the material 20, opposite the fold 22, are provided with flaps 24 and 26 for receiving a zipper. In FIGURE 7, the mattress cover material 20 is shown in a semi-finished condition with the zipper 14 in place. The line of the zipper 14 and the line of fold 22 have been folded between the top and the bottom of cover material 20 a predetermined distance, sufficient to accommodate the thickness of a given mattress. Edges 28 and 30 will then be sewn together or otherwise fastened to produce the seam 12 shown in FIGURE 1. When the other side of the cover material 20 has been sewn or fastened in a like manner, and a mattress inserted through the open zipper 14 the mattress cover with the zipper closed will appear as shown in FIGURES 1 through 5.

In the construction of the mattress cover according to this invention, the cover material 20 is provided of a sufiicient size and length and width to accommodate the length, width and thickness of a mattress which is to be covered. The material may be provided automatically from standard machinery known to the art and various sizes easily accommodated by the addition of material or the cutting of material from standard widths. These particular operations are considered to be Within the scope of one skilled in this art and do not form a part of the present invention. The mattress material 20 is then folded as shown in FIGURE 6, preferably in two with all edges matching adjacent edges and the corners all being right angles. For convenience of illustration, the preferred step is next to place a releasable fastener, such as zipper 14 on the flaps 24 and 26 of the edges opposite the fold 22. This closure may be formed by superimposing the edge of the fabric portion of a zipper against each flap and then folding the flap over the zipper fabric and stitching, resulting in the structure shown in FIGURE 3. Preferably, the zipper fastener can be attached by using seam type SSA-1, SSP-l, LSY2(A), or LSX-ZA and a stitch type 301, 40 1, and 402. The stitch type and seam type references are to Federal Standard, Stitches, Seams, and Stitching, Federal Standard No. 751, August 14, 1959.

The partially completed cover with the zipper 14 in place is then treated in the following manner. The zipper 14 is folded back between the layers of cover material 20 in a Sigma-shaped fold as shown in FIGURE 7. Likewise, fold 22 is folded back between the top and bottom of mattress cover material 20, also shown in FIGURE 7. The resulting configuration will easily accommodate a mattress or other article of a given thickness. The distance from the rearmost edge into fold 22 is preferably identical with the distance from the front edge into zipper 14. The size of cover material 20, edge 28 and edge 30 and the depth to which zipper 14 and fold 22 must penetrate between the top and bottom layer are all predetermined by the size of the mattress to be covered. The length of seam 12, FIGURE 1, formed by edges 28 and 30 will be substantially the overall length of the article being covered. The distance between the sides of cover material 20 will be approximately the width and thickness of the article being covered with a seam allowance. The overall length of the cover material 20, that is, the distance from fold 22 to the flaps 24 or 26 will correspond to the length and thickness of the article being covered, together with an allowance for the zipper. In this manner, the configuration shown in FIGURE 7 is fixed in place when edges 28 and 30 are joined together in seam 12. For this construction, seam type SSA 1, SSP-1, LSY 2(A) or LSX2(A) in stitch type 301, 401 or 402 can be used.

- The foregoing construction may be manufactured of a knitted fabric, woven fabric, non-woven bonded fabric, plastic, plastic coated, or any other suitable fabric material to achieve the objects and advantages of the present invention.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof.

It is claimed:

1. A mattress cover including at least one piece of material, said material being folded at one end thereof to form top and bottom layers and three pairs of edges, one pair of edges opposite said fold being of equal dimension to one another and being equal in dimension to said fold, a fastening means releasably securing said one pair of edges together, said fold and said one pair of edges opposite said fold defining a generally Sigma-shape inclusive of said top and bottom layers in order to accommodate mattresses of diifering thicknesses, fastening means for joining the remaining pairs of edges of said layers at substantially right angles to said fold to thereby form sides of said mattress cover, and one end of said one pair of edges being secured to the inside face of one of said sides, the other end of said one pair of edges being received adjacent the inside face of the other of said sides and adapted to be retained between said inside face of the other of said sides in a mattress.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1966 Dashosh 5--335 5/1967 Meyer et al. 5-33S 

